why is that once again there are over 4000 schools closed.? Took a 3 mile drive through untreated narrow country roads covered in snow and ice into the local town, and guess what?, all the shops are open. So why not the schools? Do school staff reside in some parallel universe to the rest of us, or is just another excuse to have a 'jolly' at everyones expense?..

Also, a class with only 7 kids in is a total nightmare. The school is suppsoed to use the time to educate them, but there is no point if you have to repeat the lesson again when the rest return.

There are only so many DVDs, etc, that you can show to fill in the time, and don't forget the kids will get an entire day of this.

And to all those who cropped up on The Wirght Show and Jeremy Vine the other day: Schools are there to provide an education for your children in line with the curriculum. They are not there to give you free day-care for your kids so you can go to work.

Are
these the same children who play out in the snow all day without harm, yet a short walk to school proves far more dangerous? And as for free day care, it's good job we do have work bearing in mind it's our taxes that pay the teachers wages. Have a 'jolly' at my work place and no pay simple as that.

were schools hardly ever closed in my day (the 70's) ??.....because if you fell over on snow or ice and hurt yourself, tough, you were an idiot, get over it! Today, trip and break something at school....sue, where there's blame, there's a claim, sue,were you hurt in accident that wasn't your fault?, sue, SUE !!..........

simples....
the kids have to live within a certain radius of a particular school to qualify for a place...teachers however can live miles away...hence the first flakes of snow that fall.'Schools out'.....though they do like to trot out the 'health and safety is paramount' line.Of course in Scandinavia they don't give a f*** about the kids.

**never did us any **
harm, we were jettisoned out of the house shortly after 8 in the morning, walked to school, yes walked even at 5 years old, and were not allowed back in the house until school threw us out at 3.30, home for tea, then out for as long as we possibly could be playing in the snow ,no matter how deep or cold it was, the kids of todayare far too pampered and soft.

I gave....
4 people a lift who were walking to Town this morning (I needed some ballast in the back). Postman, 2 ladies who worked in a cafe and a shop,and a bloke who didn't say,but I'm 100% certain he wasn't a teacher." />

Teachers don't get to decide if the school is closed, the Head/Principal does. In my experience, their decision has nothing to do with staff inconvnience, but with parental response.

Some parents will demand their precious bundle is restored to the house on sight of the first snowflake and will whoosh by in the 4x4 with the bubblewrap for the journey back home. Other parents will demand the school will stay open regardless of any weather conditions. Others yet would love to send their kids to you and wait to sue because they tripped and fell / got a snowball to the eye / got cold and caught a cold. They'll get an out of court settlement via injurylawyers4profit, and the school will get a bollocking for losing budget money on such payouts [the LEA won't fight, they never do anything to defend a school or teacher who is even accused of anything; regardless of the truth].

You're the head - what's your call?

Why is it that kids can play in the snow, but not go to school? Who you gonna sue if your kid falls off their sledge?

Why were schools open in the 70s, but not now? How many of you got the bus (school not public) or got driven to school in the 70s? How's about now? What is the school supposed to do if the bus company says no service today [even if public busses are running]? Or if parent's won't drive their kids in?

Reynard...taxes might pay my salary, but I'd imagine your salary wouldn't be up to much if there wasn't a state education system.

And if people insist of the flase compare of schools with private business, let's torture the metaphor. Schools provide education as a product. It is consumed by children who spend taxation money to get it. Is there any point in keeping a business open for the day when there is no chance of it actually doing any trading that day (and a chance of employees or browsing shoppers suing if there is a health and safety violation discovered)? If the business lacks the staff (teachers), and the stock (teachable lessons), and the consumers (students) to actually do the trading....WHY is it open?!?

And don't lecture me about techaer being paid during snow-days; anyone on an annual salary receives pay for the days in which a business is closed. Teachers do a massive amount of out-of-hours work just to meet the basic requirements of the job; this doesn't count as overtime. Clock watching is a very quick way to kill any ambition of having a state education system that actually does any educating.

BTW, my college has remained open. Yesterday there were 95% or so of staff in and under 8% of students in. A total waste of time for the staff and students who showed up.

If Mr Gove gets his way, the schools will be open just like the shops. And your taxes will be going to make the rich richer and our children poorer. Schools are always an easy target for the 'my taxes' brigade. It's not school staff that engineered the change in attitudes towards child protection since the sixties and seventies. It's us, parents and our parents before.

Education is not a measurable. You can't look at one person and say they have 4 educations and another person has 10.

Using grades is a reflection of the student performance; not teaching performance. If qualifications merely reflected the teaching standard of your establishment, what would be the point of them? According to research into this area, competent to spectacular teaching skill variance prompts at best the gain or loss of a single grade by the student. Great teachers do not produce A-grades from the weak, nor poor teachers fail grades from the capable.

Schools need to manage their budgets responsibly; but this is not the same as turning a profit. Where, exactly, would such profit come from?

Wow!
"Using grades is a reflection of the student performance; not teaching performance. If qualifications merely reflected the teaching standard of your establishment, what would be the point of them? According to research into this area, competent to spectacular teaching skill variance prompts at best the gain or loss of a single grade by the student. Great teachers do not produce A-grades from the weak, nor poor teachers fail grades from the capable."

In that case if teachers don't improve our childrens natural ability then the point of schools must be to look after our kids whilst we are at work?

teachers
my wife is teacher. I put snow chains on volvo at 7am tuesday morning (used to cold coming from brecon beacons and being in army stationed in canada) got about 1.5 miles out of our village, stopped, took snow chains off, bit further on, lorry jacknifed with bus behind him, couldn't go anywhere du to recovery and police etc..had 10 month old in car, 2 yrd old daughter and eldest daughter (10). turned around as was told recovery would take about 2-3 hrs. by the time it was cleared it was about 2pm. my wife got docked a days pay. was i pissed off, yes i bloody was. I made every effort to get her there and was stopped by an accident..no way around it as the back lanes were only passable with a 4 x 4 and even a farmer got stuck in his..

my wife has been at the same school for 13 yrs, only got promoted due to politics before her old boss left..

she is there to teach yes, not for people to go out to wrk..it is the parents responsibilities to parent, the teachers educate..(not all the time as some kids are a pain in the arse)..i used to mentor apprentices..some were good, some shocking..it isnt a 9-3 job either, ask my wife later when she is marking/doing resources for her whole dept..until gone 10pm..

Teachers
I hear what you're saying, but it's not every day that teachers are working past 10pm. Hardly ever happens, I'd say tbh. While it is true there is a bit more than 9-3:30 in a teacher's work day (including the lunch hour and breaks), I doubt they actually put in more graft than the 8-hours (not including lunch) that the rest of us accept without much complaint.

In fact, considering teachers get 1/3rd of the year off on holiday too, there can hardly be a more whiny profession - not even the police. Besides which, teachers seem to think they should get medals for simply doing the job - after a fashion - they are being paid for.

Have you come across a September yet, which wasn't full of teachers - fresh from a 6-week holiday - whinging about how hard they've got it, how awful the job is, how they need to strike, how anyone would be mad to work as a teacher, etc. etc.? Does wonders for recruitment, I bet.

Teachers are world champions when it comes to blaming too. Blame the parents, blame the kids, blame the curriculum, blame the local authorities, blame the weather, blame the government - good thing teaching personal responsibility isn't part of the programme.

and ther's me thinking....
that schools were 'contracted' to have my kids from 8.45 to 15.15 Monday to Friday.They certainly make a fuss (and threaten you with a fine) if you want to take them out of school for a week to go on Holiday in the 'off season'...It's like the war strategy 'don't shoot to kill, just wound.Then they'll need two more to carry them'.Every time an Head teacher closes a school because they want to stay home,they put a parent off work." />

Before winter once again desends upon merry old England all Heads should write to the parents enclosing a letter that once signed would remove all the rights to sue the school/local authority should any misshap befall their children as a result of foul weather. Any parent who refused would be prosucuted for failing to send their charges to school.This would at one stroke put a stop to the ridicuious culture of claiming for financial awards.

As for payments for not turning up for work, being a shift worker l am not 'salaried' ergo no work no pay. And let me assure you that the local shops that are always open come rain or shine were doing a brisk trade.

teaching etc
my wife would beg to differ, she has just sorted out resources fro tomorrow, and she is in a meeting all day on a saturday for no extra pay, as she loves her job. she was crying on the weekend worried about her yr 11's performances plus other crap. So if i have a crap day looking after my children, normally i cope, but there are days when i truly want to jump on the zzr and thrash her..but we have different days and marriage is a partnership. yes she does have 4 week off in the summer, she often goes in to sort out paperwork and classrooms. anyway I've had kids all day, and trying to do a degree myself so when the children are in school, i can return to the workplace hopefully in engineering. I was thinking of going into teaching after i graduated, after what i c mrs b do, ...im not so sure...

oh, mrs b just asked..Lunch breaks wtf are they?

break times..wtf are they as you have duties, bus duties or corridor duties..